Sean Murphy‘s style is tailor made for Gotham City and its inhabitants. In the action-adventure series Chrononauts, he showed his range, packing each frame with so much kinetic energy it burst at the seams — but itâ€™s in the shadows where Murphy shines brightest. He was born to illustrate Batman.

At the moment there are a handful of artists at the top of the food chain — Adam Hughes, Greg Capullo, Rafael Albuquerque — and Murphy is among the very best. Not to be overlooked, Matt Hollingsworth adds a pitch-perfect color palate to offset Murphyâ€™s darkness, and the results are stunning.